The Ring
by Sheeple
Summary: Tohka's life turns upside down when Shido apparently has married Origami! But is it really as she thinks it is, or has she been tricked by Origami (again)?


**Hey, I'm actually alive! That's right, I haven't abandoned my account. Kind of. Like finding that dog you lost a year ago.**

**I don't own Date A Live in any way, shape, or form.**

* * *

Wedding bells were ringing, and the happy couple walked down the aisle. Besides the duo, family members and friends cheered, albeit a single childhood friend silently fuming. They raised their hands as the camera dramatically panned upward, capturing the glint of the two wedding ring-adorned hands clasping the other.

"And that concludes this season of Love is an Illusion! See you next year for the prequel!"

"Shido, Shido! What's that weird loopy thingy that the people are wearing in the show?"

Shido took a pause from cutting up a few vegetables for dinner as he looked over to the group sitting on the couch, intently watching the season finale of the never-ending soap opera.

"Oh, that. That's called a wedding ring. It's uhhh, what two people who love each other a lot. They're usually made out of something nice, like gold or silver."

Tohka, being satisfied with his answer, started flipping throughout the channels to find a new show. She didn't know why, but she was sure that it would be really nice if someone gave her a wedding ring… But she had other things to worry about, like the new season of Love is an Illusion.

Origami blocked Shido's way out of the classroom. "Shido, you will be joining the film club with me." She stared at him with blanch eyes.

"B-but I have to go meet-"

"Join."

"Tohka's waitin-"

"Join."

"But!"

"Join."

Shido gave a dramatic sigh. "Fine… When's the meeting?"

"Now."

"Like right now?"

"Right now. Let's go." Origami grabbed a flustered Shido's wrist and dragged him down the hallway just as a Tohka, thoroughly confused and looking for Shido herself, rounded the corner.

"Shiidoo!? Where are you?" Tohka's head whipped around at impossible speeds, scanning the hallway for his face.

"To-mmwrmp!" After noticing Shido's attempt to call out to Tohka, Origami had quickly clamped her hand over the boy's mouth. It was probably best that Tohka didn't notice Shido and her. Hopefully she would never ever find Shido again, and maybe transfer schools… Oh well, wishful thinking.

"So, now that everyone's here, I guess the first meeting of the film club can begin! I was thinking that we could try recreating a scene from a popular TV show. I already gathered a few scenes, so we can vote on what we want to do!" Everyone murmured in agreement. "The choices are: the big fight scene from the 2nd Transmorphers movie, the murder scene from Case Finished, or the marriage scene from Love is an Illusion, which is famous for being the only happy season finale of the show up-to-date! Now take your vote!"

Shido looked around the classroom as the club members walked up to the chalkboard and tallied their vote, most choosing the marriage scene either because of the fact that it was the only happy ending in Love is an Illusion or because it was the easiest scene to do. In the end, the votes were five for the fight scene, three for the crime scene, and fifteen for the marriage scene. The club being a majority of girls probably attributed to that.

"I think it's a wonderful idea, right Shido? Because its inevitably the way things are going to be in the future between the two us." Origami said, turning to Shido.

"R-r-right…" He said without thinking. Then, after a few seconds, he processed what he had actually said, and mentally punched himself a million times over for agreeing. Though, Origami had such a wonderful smile on her face, albeit a small one, so he decided to correct her later, whenever that later might be.

"Tohka, I'm going out for a bit so you can eat lunch without me! Shido hurried out the door, slamming it behind him.

Tohka, on the other hand, sat munching on some yakisoba bread and watching an old rerun of Love Is an Illusion. The heroine had been watching a soap opera while her beloved had snuck out the back, going to buy a ring and marrying another woman while at the same time signing divorce papers. For once, Tohka thought that was just a bit unbelievable. "Yoshino, isn't that just a bit…" Yoshino had appeared to have nodded off during the show, along with her ever-present puppet.

"Shido, don't you think that that's a bit weird?" She called. No one responded, and she was met with silence. "Shido? Shidoooo!" Again, only the silence of the house responded, until Reine stumbled into the living room, looking quite worn out. Though, she always looked tired, so Tohka couldn't really tell.

"Have you seen Kotori?" She asked. "I was supposed to talk to her this morning… oh well." She sat down and pulled out a mug of coffee and a large handful of sugar packets, ripping each one open and pouring its contents into the mug. Tohka, after seeing a large amount of health commercials on the tv, was a bit concerned.

"Reine, are you sure that it's ok to have that much sugar in your coffee?" She eyed the steamy mug.

"Oh, this? It should be ok… This is only my third cup of coffee today… Or is it my thirteenth cup of coffee? I'm not sure, but I think I saw Shido run out the door. He looked rushed, and I think he was late for something."

"Oh, thanks Reine! I was looking for Shido." Tohka stood up and headed for the door, only to remember the ridiculous episode of Love is an Illusion. Both Shido and the scumbag of a man had left hastily… But that certainly couldn't have been the case, right? "Reine, did Shido have anything with him when he left?"

Reine took an annoyingly long sip of coffee. "Actually, now that you mention it, I think he had some papers in his hand… Something to do with marriage, I think."

"M-m-marriage!?" Tohka burst out of the door. The man in the soap opera also had papers about marriage! Something to do with divorce… but regardless, they were both about marriage! At least in a general sense. Did that mean Shido was going out to…? Wait, but Shido and her weren't married! Though, she still had to see what Shido was doing, just to be sure… Running down the street, Tohka caught a glimpse of blue hair rounding the corner. Quickly chasing after him, she also rounded the corner to find him intensely staring at the marriage papers and mumbling to himself. Tohka was about to tackle him and ask where he was going, but she stopped herself. It was probably nothing, and afterwards, maybe Shido would give her a pat on the head for compensation for making her so worried! That sounded like a plan. For now, she would follow him, just in case it did happen to be something bigger, but it probably wasn't. Probably. She tailed him for another four blocks until he entered a funny shop… What did the sign say? Jeweler? What was that?

After a few moments, he came out with a velvet box, and was that a… ring!?

Shido, on the other hand, inspected the ring and placed it in the box. Even though it was the cheapest one they had, it was still quite pretty, and had cost a ton. In fact, he had had to ask Kotori for some money from the Ratatoaskr organization. After an hour of interrogation, he had managed to get her to say yes, and now for the next four months, she had first dibs anytime they used the bath salts. Though, it was a good deal all in all.

He glanced at his phone to read the time, and was surprised when he discovered he only had about fifteen minutes to get to the chapel on the other side of town.

Meanwhile, Tohka was having trouble breathing normally. Shido had bought a r-r-ring? He was acting exactly like the cheating guy in Love is an Illusion! Sneaking out, handling divorce papers, buying a ring… The only thing left was m-m-marriage! But there was no way Shido was getting married right now.. He hadn't said a single word about it!

_He would have wanted to keep it a secret from you though…_ A voice said in the back of her mind.

No! There was absolutely no way Shido was getting married! And if he intended to, then Tohka was in no way going down without a fight. With her slowly returning spirit powers, Tohka stomped after Shido.

Tohka, now partially in her astral dress, hid behind a building as she watched Shido (in horror) as he walked into a white, pristine chapel while wearing, what was that, a TUXEDO? No, nothing to get alarmed at, hehe, maybe Shido had just wanted to look nice? Judging from the noise coming from inside the chapel though, a large amount of people had gathered.

After a few minutes, nice looking car pulled up and a white haired girl in a flowing wedding dress stepped out. Tohka, curious of who it might be, snuck closer to the girl. After closer inspection, it was none other than the infamous, flat chested man-snatcher, Origami Tobiichi! At this point, Tohka was fuming. Origami must have tricked Shido into doing this! Or perhaps, they were visiting the same chapel by coincidence. She looked quite stunning in that wedding dress though… No, no, no, what was she thinking!? She had to stop this madness! But how…

Tohka sat behind a parked car nearby as she contemplated her plan. Maybe she could blow up the church with her spirit powers? No, that could possibly hurt Shido… Or, she could bust into the chapel and remove Origami and take her place! No, that would never work…

The girl sat cross-legged, engrossed in thought. Before she could formulate a fool proof plan though, a certain ringing interrupted her thoughts… Wait, were those wedding bells!? She sprang up and watched helplessly as Shido and Origami walked out of the church, hand in hand, both wearing rings! Stopping dramatically, they raised their hands together enclasped, and sunlight glinted off their rings.

At that point, Tohka had nearly exploded with surprise and the feeling of betrayal. Shido had totally betrayed her! She wasn't sure how, but he definitely did! Somehow.

Bursting from her hiding place, she planted herself in front of Origami and Shido. "S-S-Shido! What in the world are you doing!?"

Shido opened his mouth to respond, but Origami was quicker. "We're getting married. Isn't that obvious?" She wrapped herself around the blue-haired boy's arm.

"B-b-but aren't you too young to be getting married?" Tohka questioned.

"Love is a suitable excuse for anything."

"B-b-but Shido never said anything about getting married!"

"Of course. He wanted to keep it a secret from you."

"You must have tricked him into doing this!"

"I did not."

"You don't have any proof!"

"These rings." Origami held up her and Shido's hands. "Me and Shido bought a wedding ring for each other. Do you need any more evidence?"

"B-b-but…" Tohka paled as Origami kept one hand firmly latched on top of Shido's mouth as he attempted to say something. After a bit of her stuttering, Origami gave Tohka a smug grin, and Tohka abruptly did an about face, absolutely steaming.

The wind blew through everyone's hair as silence fell upon them, and Origami wordlessly proclaimed her victory. And so, Tohka started bawling and ran down the street like a rocket, spirit power trailing behind her in purple wisps.

Shido, on the other hand, pried Origami's hand from his mouth and ran after her. "Tohka! Wait!" The girl that was previously beside him stretched out a hand as to stop him, but pulled it back. Her work had already been done. Shido could go try to fix things with Tohka. It didn't really matter though, because in the end, everything was going to turn out fine.

"_I think it's a wonderful idea, right Shido? Because it's inevitably the way things are going to be in the future between the two of us."_

"_R-r-right…"_

Origami gave a rare, dreamy sigh. What a wonderful future to look forward to.

"Tohka! Tohka! Toohkaaa! Jeez. Where could she have run off to?" Shido stopped and caught his breath, putting his hands on his knees. He had been running around town for he last half hour looking for the spirit girl, and the connection in his earpiece was surprisingly not working, so he had no way to contact Ratatoaskr and ask about Tohka's whereabouts.

Panting, he gathered his thoughts… which provided absolutely nothing. Looking at the building besides him, he was surprised to see almost nothing left of the shop at all. What lay beside him was the wreckage of a bakery, its displays in complete disarray. Decorating the carnage were wisps of Tohka's residual power.

"Hmm… Maybe Tohka was hungry?" Shido inspected the rubble looking for clues, when he noticed a small dusting of crumbs on the ground nearby, accompanied by a little swarm of ants. The ants, dutifully picking up one, two, even three crumbs at a time, steadily erasing the trail of scraps and pieces of bread.

As Shido watched, cogs in his brains turning, it took him a few moments to realize that the trail of crumbs most likely would lead to Tohka. Naturally, he thought, Tohka, in her (jealous) rage had obliterated the closed bakery and had taken all the panako bread to eat her sorrows away.

Following the (quite thick) trail of bread crumbs, Shido duly marched up the equivalent of ten flights of stairs, three miles of road, and another eight flights of stairs to find Tohka slightly tearful and holding a great many bags stuffed of panako bread as she silently stuffed another loaf into her mouth, hardly chewing at all. Alerted by his footsteps, Tohka turned around to face the approaching newlywed (or as she thought).

"Shwwidow?" She said, swallowing the last of her umpteenth panako bread. "What are _you _doing here? I thought you ran off and got married to Origami! And you even gave her a wedding ring! Hmpph!"

"Wait, wait, wait. What? Oh, that. That was just-" Spirit power flared around Tohka, and her eyes gave off a dangerous glint, full of almost, almost being the keyword, murderous intent.

"Shido! How could you talk about getting married to she-wolf like that! You could have at least asked me before, or given me a warning… You… You even said we would be together forever!(If you guys don't know what I'm talking about, watch the OVA.) Waahhh! Shido, you idiot!" Tohka's size seemed to grow immensely, also getting more menacing at the same time (while bawling out her eyes, if that's possible).

Hey, hey, Tohka! That wasn't the actual thing!" He cried, desperately trying to catch Tohka's attention, and calm the (growing) distressed spirit.

"Wasn't. Actual. Thing?" Tohka's menacing form stopped growing, and she took a pause to wipe her eyes with her now comically large hands.

"Yeah! It's just a big misunderstanding." Shido released a sigh and his worries as he made his explanation.

"But-" Tohka resumed growing as the dark, the menacing shadow that had recently disappeared reappearing. "You gave her a wedding ring!" She half whined half sobbed."It was all shiny and pretty and-"

"Wait wait wait! That was because it was for the film club! It was just pretend!"

"Oh." Tohka's growth halted as she set to ponder on some facts. "But-" She started, once again, quite comically growing. "She said that you married her!"

Shido internally sighed at the consequences of Tohka's innocence. "But Origami tricks you all the time, doesn't she?"

The immense, almost chibi-like form known as Tohka immediately deflated like an untied balloon as she reverted back to her original, non-chibi self. "Yeah… I guess you could be right…" Tohka's cheeks flamed up, and she turned as red a cherry tomato. "Wahh! I feel so embarrassed! That Origami Tobiichi's tricked me for the… for the…" The spirit's face scrunched up in concentration. "The gazillionth time!"

"Heh, I think you might be exaggerating a bit, Tohka…" A familiar buzzing was felt in Shido's left ear, and he lightly tapped the earpiece, promptly gaining an earful from commander-mode Kotori.

"What have you been doing for the last three hours!? I've been trying to reach you, Tohka's in a really bad mood!"

"Still? I would have thought that her mood would have got a little better…" Shido glanced over at Tohka and found that the girl, even though finding out that the whole reason she had gotten angry was a ruse, was both literally and metaphorically fuming. "Ok, ok, maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right!" Kotori said in a haughty manner. "Anyway, find a way to make her happy. We don't want Tohka leveling the city, anyway."

After a bit of quick contemplation and analysis of the root of the problem, in a way that surprised himself, Shido speedily thought of a (probably) sure-fire plan to pull Tohka out from her depressed state. "Hey, Tohka, can you come here for a second?" Tohka half walked, half stomped over to Shido. "Now close your eyes and hold out you hand."

Tohka hesitated for a moment. "Hmph! I bet you're just trying to trick me, just like Origami does all the time! I'm not _that _gullible." She ended her sentence with a poor excuse of what could be interpreted as a smug grin.

"Just hold out your hand."

"Fine, Fine." Closing her eyes and daintily extending her left hand forward, she felt something slip onto her ring finger.

"Ok, you can open your eyes now." As she did just that, Tohka saw that Shido had slipped the ring he had previously worn onto her hand. Looking at it now, in all its shiny splendor, it looked much better than the ring Tobiichi had on her hand before. _Much _better. "How do you like it?"

Oh Shido! It's… wonderful!" In reality, she had really wanted to say something akin to the likes of 'its a hundred times prettier, shinier, and more beautiful than the one Origami Tobichii had, but for once, she read the mood and decided not to.

"W-well, just consider it as something to cement my promise. You know, the one where we'll always be together…" Shido said as he blushed at the implications of his words and actions. Meanwhile, Kotori buzzed in to say that Tohka's happiness meter had burst through the roof, and she offered him her congratulations. At the end, she muttered something including "too far" "was going" and "marinate". Or was it "marriage" that she said? He couldn't be sure.

Regardless, the walk home had a nice atmosphere, with Tohka smiling and humming to herself the entire way. "Always be together…" She thought. It had such a nice ring to it.

* * *

Prologue-

A certain silver-haired beauty walked into class, smiling to herself as she thought of the results of her actions the day before, or at least what she thought were the results. Sitting down on her desk, she fought the urge to snicker at what she imagined Tohka's face to be when she walked in. That face, though, was very different from what she expected.

Tohka, walking into Shido quite literally attached onto his arm, was absolutely beaming. Catching sight of her self-proclaimed rival, she not-so subtlety flashed her left hand to Origami. As her eyes widened and she quickly deduced what Shido had done, the expression on Tohka's face could only be described as pure victory.


End file.
